Thiols as Effective Capping Molecules to Synthesize High-Quality ZnO Nanocrystals

Abstract

In our present work, an alternative approach to synthesize Zinc oxide (ZnO) quantum dots (QDs) using simple aqueous route under ambient conditions is reported. ZnO QDs were synthesized using zinc nitrate as a precursor and different thiols as effective capping molecules. The synthesized powders were characterized by XRD and UV‐Vis optical absorption. The XRD results indicated that as synthesized ZnO QDs had pure hexagonal wurtzite structure and 2‐ME capped ZnO QDs gives smallest sized nanoparticles. All these nanoparticles emit clearly visible blue emission under UV lamp.